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Issue 146 Winter 2022

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IMMUNOASSAY MAY NOT REVEAL LOW ALDOSTERONE IN COVID-19

| Hot topics



Accurate detection and quantification of hormones is critical to proper disease management. Patient hormone levels are determined by the gold standard of liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS-MS) or biochemical detection using immune assays, such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.


During the recent COVID-19 pandemic, low aldosterone/renin ratios have been considered as predictive of increased disease severity. Wiegand et al. report how, through use of LC/MS-MS, staff at Cambridge University Hospitals observed reduced aldosterone in a significant cohort of patients with COVID-19. The team applied both LC/MS-MS and immunoassay methods to better describe the disparity between the two methods of aldosterone detection. They reveal an underlying issue with a common clinical immunoassay that may result in false readings for the detection of aldosterone.
Their work demonstrates that there is probably a sizable cohort of patients with COVID-19 for whom reduced aldosterone levels have remained undetected.


Read the full article in Endocrine Connections.




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